Finish Line Will Close 150 Stores Over The Next Four Years

Finish Line, a mall retailer that sells athletic clothes and sneakers, has had a rough year. Specifically, they’ve had supply chain and order management issues that began in the fall and lost them an estimated $32 million in sales. Today, the company announced that they’ll be closing as many as 150 stores over the next four years, almost a quarter of the chain.

In typical corporatespeak fashion, they call this a “Store Profitability Improvement.” That’s true: while many “sneakerologists” will lose their jobs, the company notes that the closing stores are all under-performers, with an average of $1 million in sales per year. According to Buzzfeed News, that’s about half what the average Finish Line store takes in. The company’s leaders assume that business from those stores will either migrate online or to a Finish Line store at a nearby higher-end mall.

That’s what this is really about: high-end malls are thriving, but midrange malls are… not. In your area, the mall with Nordstrom and a Cheesecake Factory is probably doing a lot better than the mall with JCPenney and a Friendly’s, or regional equivalents.

Macy’s announced late yesterday that they plan 36 store closings this year; interestingly, the two chains have partnered up, and there are Finish Line mini-stores in some Macy’s locations.